Guilty
by Champion409
Summary: Lincoln gets some advice about how to escape his situation, from an unusual place. No Such Luck fanfic.
1. Chapter 1

**Well this is a change of pace. I really like this show, and I've found a handful of great fanfics about this show, mainly by the same few authors ( those authors being That Engineer, and Rsizzle34) If you came here from because you follow me sorry if this story isn't your style. I plan on it being pretty short. Also if you aren't fond of or are sick of No Such Luck fics, leave now. If your not, read on. Please advise me on the major grammatical errors, and review if you want too. With all that out of the way, I hope you enjoy.**

Lynn Loud Sr had always been a cinephile. He knew first hand that it held the ability to convey meanings that would be lost on people if simply hammered into their heads by a teacher or a parent. He knew how angry his children were about the way the world worked, and how determined they were too fix its various flaws. He knew that his wife was always somewhat charmed by his unorthodox ways of giving life lessons to his children. So, using his vast library of film knowledge, he pieced two hours worth of film, in an effort to teach his children how to deal with the issues they didn't like. Though he felt it may not work, he knew he had a nasty habit of underestimating his children. One clip or set of clips for each child, as they all learned at different paces, a fact that was blatantly obvious when he compared Leni and Lisa. Well, female child. Lincoln, his only son and an outlier in the family for more reasons then that, had been able to reverse the notion that he was bad luck. And the Loud patriarch was using this to his advantage.

His DVD player had a nasty habit of breaking down, and while Lincoln wouldn't be able to take much away from the clips, he would be able to keep them rolling with his luck. With everyone sitting comfortably, excluding Lincoln, who had to stand on a seat next to the TV. At 6:00 Lynn cleared his throat. "When I was young, whenever I left the theater, I always left with a new lesson to mull over. And it helped form me into the man I am now. These films inspired me to take action. And I hope they inspire you all to do the same. Each kid had formulated some response to that speech, but their father had imposed the importance of theater rules on them at a young age, so they knew better than to talk. Lincoln's blood boiled in two ways. He was enraged that his father wouldn't let him watch any of the clips, and forced him to only listen. His hearing rarely was all that great.

Afterall, each of the girl's activities and Lucy's habit of scaring people led to a large amount of yelling, often resulting in days on end where he struggled to hear a request to pass the salt at dinner. The other way was due to the fact that the suit he was forced into wearing often would fill with sweat, and making him stand next to the vents on the TV, didn't help. 'Oh please just let me drown in my own sweat. I can't take this.' Lincoln yelled in his head. 'Not like they'd care. He listened briefly, bored by the morals Lori had been bestowed by their "wise and loving father". Or at least he was to his Junior. Lincoln was thrusted out of his rant, as he heard a man yelling at someone else.

" **I can handle things! I'm smart. Not like everyone says, dumb, I'm smart! And I want respect!"** Lincoln's face changed from irked to shocked. He was always considered average intelligence, but wasn't allowed to handle things, unless his sisters didn't want to handle them. He never had much respect from anyone in the house. He didn't want a leader's amount of respect, but he wanted somebody to respect what he did. Everything he sacrificed for them. The fact that he always tried to make things right. Unlike them, he felt awful when he had hurt them. Lincoln knew he could get them to give him some respect, but how?

" **...First, you've got to get mad!'** Luna's clips were up, clearly designed to help her with her recent amount about her sexuality. But the clip told Lincoln he had been given a sign as to how he would get respect. But he just had to build up enough steam to make it worthwhile. None of his anger induced rants made a lasting impact onto his siblings. This one had too. For every single time he had been stomped on, no more. 'Wait. Why am I searching for a fuel for my rage. I'm wearing it!' Lincoln's fist clenched, as more thoughts raced through his head. The TV paused, and Lynn stood up.

"Alright! Time for an intermission! Be back in 10 minutes everyone!" He announced as his family dispatched mostly to the kitchen, though some to their rooms to change into something a bit more comfortable. "Hey Dad! Can I use the bathroom?" Lincoln called out to his father in the kitchen. "Sure!' Lincoln waited for the stipulation. 'Just wear the head though ok? I don't want to fix the toilet tonight." Lynn finished, with exactly what Lincoln expected. Lincoln trudged up the stairs, listening to his sister's laugh at his expense. He had never felt so much freedom in such an odd place. Somehow the bathroom was his only escape, as Lisa was banned from putting cameras there. He threw off the suit, head first, then he unzipped the body. He lived for these moments, which saddened him. He used to be lively and happy, rarely without a smile, and if he lacked one he had good reason. He stared into the mirror. His face had somehow gotten paler, his face was ragged and tired. He reached his hand up, curling his fingers around the top of the glass cabinet. He began to pull down, hearing the hinges creak. He grit his teeth as finished taking the mirror off of it's hinges, and he threw it onto the ground, watching as it shattered.

"Dammit Lincoln!" Lynn Jr yelled as she stormed off down the stairs. "Lynn watch your mouth!" Rita yelled. "Sorry Mom." Lynn apologized in a fake manner. Lynn Sr, walked in with a bucket and thick gloves in hand. "Once we're done here, Lincoln can clean it up." Lynn Sr. groaned as he sat down on the couch with his wife. "Lincoln! Hurry up!" He yelled as a series of loud thumps began to shake the house. Lincoln was back in the main room. But he was wearing his typical orange collared shirt, and jeans. "Lincoln. Why aren't you wearing your suit? The house could burn down!" Lola screamed. "I am not your puppet." Lincoln muttered. "Yeah, that's great and all Lincoln, but you better put your suit back on before you literally get turned into a human pretzel!" Lori nearly screamed, as Lucy began to crane her head to view the TV.

"Everyone, be quiet, I think this scene is for me." Lucy stated suddenly scaring all but Lincoln. Lucy wasn't wrong about who the scene was for. Her father had always thought that she was constantly bullied by her classmates, mainly due to her bruises which were extremely apparent on her white skin. Perhaps, something that is not entirely human, standing up to his abusers could help her. "Lincoln, I musht highly recommend, that you put your shuit back on, before another incident happens." Lisa recommended in her typical cold tone, as a shadow raced across the room and grabbed a bat. "I refuse to wear that thing ever again." Lincoln responded, his anger and volume rising with every word. "Alright, well since your all to scared to properly deal with this, I'll do it." Lynn Jr. proclaimed as she swung her bat at Lincoln's side. Lincoln took the hit, and stumbled back, jabbing his leg against the coffee table. Lynn, swung again, and Lincoln jumped onto the coffee table to avoid it. Lucy turned the TV up another 5 notches, so unless they were right next to Lynn, they wouldn't hear her.

"Goddamnit Lincoln!' Lynn swung again, only for it to be caught by Lincoln 'Put your suit back on!" Lynn screamed as her voice barely overcame the blonde security workers voice in the movie. Lincoln's back rose, until it was straight as could be.

" **NO!** " Lincoln yelled at the top of his lungs, beating out the volume of the movie. Everybody looked up at him in pure fear. Before the suit, Lincoln had only raised his voice to gather attention in a hectic situation. Lincoln looked down at them, bearing his teeth at them as he breathed heavily. He looked back down at Lynn. For once, the one with the power, looked at the person they controlled, with fear in their eyes. Lincoln threw the end of the bat upwards, slamming it into Lynn's jaw. Lynn, collapsed on the ground like a rag doll within a few seconds. Lincoln looked back at the rest of his family, who were paralyzed by fear sitting there on the couch. Lincoln turned around and threw the front door open, busting it off of one of it's hinges. He left it wide open as he ran off into the night. 'I'm free of every string that ties me to that damn house!" Lincoln's mind went ecstatic. Hew was free of all of the strings, except for one. Guilt.

…...

Lynn Loud Jr lay in a hospital bed, with 2 broken ribs, a twisted ankle, a broken arm, and a shattered collarbone. To her this was worse than dying. It was an eternal punishment from God. Up until she was thirteen she barely even thought of God. But it all changed when her brother ran off. All because of her. She began to pray once a day for Lincoln to come home. She offered to him dozens of things she loved. And then she promised to never screw up that grand again, when she had another chance given to her in the form of Lucas, the 12th Loud child. Only for him to die young due to his sickly nature. Ever since then she had always gone back and forth from hating God to begging for him to bring Lincoln back into their life.

This was one of those days where she hoped that God was just screwing her over, only to throw her a bone in the form of Lincoln. She felt the fluids, laced with tranquilizers and painkillers enter her body as she passed out cold. Her entire family bar two were back at home wishing they were there with their beloved sister. Her father sat at her side in the bright white hospital room, with only 5 minutes to go before visiting hours ended. A man walked quickly down the well furnished floors, the rubber soles of his boots clicking on the linoleum floor. He approached room 208, Patient L. Loud. He had completely ignored the nurse following him trying to tell him to return tomorrow, because he wouldn't have much time to visit. After a few seconds, he stood in the doorway. His older sister, and his father. "Well dad, I guess I couldn't just escape the guilt." Lincoln quipped as his father stared blankly at his son, all grown up. And likely still angry.

 ** **And done. I'm planning on one to maybe two more parts after this. If you're wondering, the movies whose lines were used in the story, (see the bold quotes for the lines), the movies were**** ** _ **The Godfather Part II , Newsroom, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes.**_** ** **So, just like or review constructive criticism is always welcome, and I hope you enjoyed.****


	2. Chapter 2

**And we are back. Thanks for the positive feedback guys. Also, sorry about some errors that showed up in the chapter, I guess some things got lost when I put it into a doc. Either way, let's move forward, by going slightly back.**

 _Earlier that day….._

Lynn Loud Jr couldn't focus too well. This always happened whenever she had a softball game. She only kept doing it in an effort to punish herself. As time had gone on she had begun to hate the sport, solely due to the fact that it drove her first brother away. That fact also didn't help motivate her family to show up to her games, except for her father and mother out of obligation. Yet even then, her team had vastly improved as her love for the game withered away. So as she stood in the outfield, staring at her feet, her team ran off of the field cheering as Lynn barely gave them or the approaching team a glance.

"Hey Loud!" One teen yelled as she swung at Lynn's sides with her bat. Lynn collapsed fast, but still a little slower than Lincoln's swing to her jaw. Lynn smirked at the thought of these athletes in peak condition hit softer than her average shape would have made the comment to really rile them up, but within another hit slightly harder at her neck, she went down cold.

She woke up 3 hours later. All 9 of her other sisters standing around her as she could hear her parents discussing the extent of her injuries with Doctor Thompkins. She heard something about a few ribs, an ankle issue and a collarbone issue. Really though she couldn't get anything beyond that as her siblings raised their voices. She sighed heavily and went back to sleep. She woke up again to see her mother and younger siblings all sitting there in her room playing cards, UNO based on the fact that Lola was throwing four cards at Lana, a typical habit of hers when she was losing.

She fell asleep again and saw her mother leaving the room with her siblings, as her father sat down in a chair by her bed. The clock read 7:55. 5 minutes left in visiting hours.

…..

"So what happened to her?" Lincoln questioned before his father could even respond to his sudden appearance.

"Sir! Slow down! There isn't much time left in visiting hours, and you didn't exactly prove you were family or friend!" The nurse half screamed trying not to wake up any of the nearby patients.

"I can vouch for him ma'am." Lynn Sr. immediately piped in, as she sighed and walked out.

"Now. Answer me." Lincoln demanded with the nurse having finally gotten out of their hair.

"A few people on the opposite team jumped her when she wasn't looking. Luckily her team ran back and kept them nearby until the cops arrived." He explained. "They broke two ribs, an arm, shattered her collarbone, and twisted her ankle." Lynn Sr. concluded.

"Alright, so how much is it gonna cost you guys to get her fixed up? Y'know she needs that scholarship." Lincoln remarked with a hint of reluctance in his voice.

"15,000. Even with all of her attackers being forced to pitch in, most of them are 18 so their parents won't help them, so we aren't getting much from them. We can tap into our emergency fund, and Pop-Pop has offered to pitch in. But even then, with his help, and our emergency fund we're still short a 2 or 3 thousand dollars." Lynn sighed, as Lincoln reached into his back pocket, and pulled out a leather wallet. He threw out 25 one hundred dollar bills as Lynn Sr looked at him in awe.

"Wha. Whe. Where did you get this?" Lynn asked astonished.

"Various odd jobs, plus a lot of luck at cards, and a bunch of Christmas bonuses. I was planning on buying a car with this, but I figured that it's time to at least set their minds at ease." Lincoln replied.

"Oh Lincoln!' Lynn Sr. began to cry' I'm so glad your back!' He sobbed into Lincoln's shoulder. After a moment Lincoln pushed him away.

"I'm not staying. I've forgiven you, but that doesn't mean I want to be a part of this family anymore." Lincoln chastised as he backed away from his father.

"Oh." Lynn Sr. replied dejectedly.

"Look, I'm only doing this, because they deserve, to know, I've forgiven all of them, to a certain extent." Lincoln explained, feeling his father had the wrong idea as to why he offered money, to people who had treated him like dirt. The two simultaneously checked the time, and stepped out of the door. Making their way out to the parking lot, they didn't say a single word until they reached the ever sturdy Vanzilla.

"So, where's your ride?" Lynn Sr. asked as Lincoln stood there in the lot.

"I walked from my hotel. It's not to far away." Lincoln answered.

"Lincoln. Please just come home. Just for one night." Lynn Sr. pleaded. Lincoln sighed as he faced west towards the neon hotel sign about 2 miles away.

"Alright. One night. One night, I square everything away with Lynn's medical bills, and bury the hatchet with everyone else, and then I'm gone. And believe me, unless something like happens again, I'm gone for good." Lincoln relinquished.

"Thank you." Lynn whispered, as Lincoln shuffled over to the passenger seat. They sat in silence, Lincoln pondering if his siblings would even want to see him. A thought which had only just come into his mind. Lynn Sr. sat there stunned that his son had even agreed to come home, even if only for a few hours. After everything which had happened to the poor boy, he wouldn't be too shocked or offended if he had still said no. It was odd how fast time whirled when two people were lost in thoughts. Within what seemed like seconds, they were back at the ever cluttered and ever in need of repairs house of the Louds.

"Look, if you want you can sleep in your old room. You don't have to drive back to your hotel. Or your mom or I could drive you back." Lynn offered.

"Well, I guess it's only fair that mom drive me back since you drove me there." Lincoln answered, surprising Lynn. They stepped out of the battered Vanzilla and made their way up the surprisingly sturdy wooden porch. Only one thing had been added to the porch. A porcelain

ashtray. Sitting in the ash was a single cigarette with a smudge of pink lipstick on it.

"So I take it Mom started smoking, probably sometime after I left." Lincoln questioned.

"Kinda. She smoked for a few years. Then we she stopped, because we both wanted another child.' Lynn began to explain as Lincoln's face expanded. 'But, then Lucas passed away, and she relapsed." Lynn finished as Lincoln's lips descended into a frown.

"I'm...I'm so sorry." Lincoln struggled to get the words out, as Lynn unlocked the door with the same Union Jack key he had when Lincoln was a young man. It was typical and cliche way to describe the house when a tragedy had occurred, but the house wasn't so loud anymore.

Inside, aside from the new photo on the banister of Lucas, the house was surprisingly left intact from the night Lincoln had ran away. Rita Loud was sitting at the table, fast asleep, Lori was curled up on the couch with Lily right next to her. Upstairs there was the faint sound of a rimshot as multiple voices began to laugh. Lincoln sighed, trying to figure out who to talk to first.

'Well, I've already talked with one of the first two people I ever knew. So I'll start with Mom.' Lincoln thought. He walked over to the dining room table and began to gently shake her.

"Mom? Mom c'mon. You gotta wake up, we gotta talk." Lincoln whispered. He watched as his mother's eyelids began to flutter open. She forced her eyes to stay open, before her pupils expanded by a huge amount.

"Lincoln! Oh my sweet boy!' She began to sob. 'Oh thank god! I've missed you so much!" She sobbed loudly, causing Lori and Lily to stir, and footsteps to pound down on the stairs.

 **Well, I hope you guys enjoyed the next part of Guilt! Sorry it took a bit to get out, but I hit a bit of a dry spell at a few points in this chapter, so I needed a bit to figure out the right words. Either way, feel free to review, favorite and follow.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Wow. Just wow. I honestly didn't expect this many people to be attracted to the story. Thank you all so much. Either way, this chapter will actually answer the question of 'how long has Lincoln been gone?' And now, on with the show.**

Lincoln held his mother close and tight.

"It's alright Mom. I'm here. I'm sorry." Lincoln as he began to rub her back like she had done when he was younger. He looked in the small dining room mirror and saw Lori sitting there her mouth wide open as she stared at him trying to determine if it really was the person she thought it was. Lily just sat there with a confused look on her face, as she wondered who the strange man hugging her mom was.

"Lincoln?" Lori asked quickly, as she dashed over to Lincoln and began to cry like her mother. She didn't need an answer. She knew him from anywhere. She just wanted to make sure she wasn't crazy. The footsteps sped up, and they began to speak loud and fast.

The footsteps stopped, and Lincoln could see the rest of his siblings in the mirror, all of them with their mouths open just as wide as Lori. It took a full thirty seconds for any of them to speak.

"Linky?' Leni asked as she began to approach the ever enlarging group hug' Linky!" Leni ran at full speed stumbling along the short way and threw her arms around Lincoln. Lincoln checked the mirror again, only to see Lily alone in the mirror. Before he could look back he felt 8 pairs of arms attempt to wrap around him.

"You're back!" The sisters, bar Lily, screamed in unison.

"Hey guys." Lincoln calmly responded, a little overwhelmed by their open arms. After 5 years, 5 birthdays, a new child, and even a few graduations, he thought that at least one of them would be mad at him running.

"Who's this?" Lily asked scratching her chin as she slowly approached, slightly scared of the mysterious white haired teenager, who looked like he was a bit older than Lucy, and yet a little younger then Lynn.

"Well duh Lily it's Linky!" Leni shouted first still not even turning from Lincoln.

"Leni, she was a baby when Lincoln was around, she doesn't remember him!" Lola yelled chastising her sister.

"Well can't Lisa use one of her machines to bring those memories back?" Leni questioned after a few seconds of pondering.

"I am afraid that I am busy." Lisa answered in an oddly emotional tone. Her lisp was mostly gone, and she wasn't always talking in a professional manner. The thing that really jumped out at Lincoln, was that she didn't jump at the opportunity to experiment on one of her siblings.

'Wow. I guess 5 years really does a number on maturity, even if they are child prodigies.' Lincoln thought letting a small chuckle out. Though under the sounds of his families sobs, no one heard it or saw it.

"Lincoln I'm so sorry we treated you like we did! We- We're all sorry!" His mother told him, mostly recomposed.

"If you're really sorry, you'll quit smoking. At least until your kids are all gone."

"Wait! Mom smokes?!" Every kid younger than Lucy, as well as Leni yelled at the top of their lungs.

Rita sighed. "Well, I think it's finally time for dinner, I think we're ordering pizza, you want to have the usual order Lincoln?" Rita asked, partially yelling as her younger children and Leni began to berate her about smoking.

"Yes please!" Lincoln yelled over their voices. "God, what are they, a 2nd grade health class?" Lincoln whispered under his breath as he walked over to Lori who was now sitting down on the couch.

"Hey Lori. So." He elongated the last word, not knowing what was appropriate to say. She was already texting somebody on her new phone. Lincoln had a guess it was Bobby, but didn't want to say anything, in case they had broken it off on a poor note.

"Who are you texting?" Lincoln asked, his curiosity winning out.

"Well like duh, Bobby! I promised him that when you came back, we would finally get married!" Lori energetically explained.

"Oh!' Lincoln was taken aback. He had to leave. But, he wanted all of his loose ends tied. 'That's fantastic!" Lincoln plastered a false look of love and excitement on his face and Lori smiled back, before turning back to her phone. Lincoln walked up the stairs to use the restroom.

'Well I'll have to figure that out later I suppose.' Lincoln thought. He closed the door and did what he needed to. He took a step out and saw a mini factory in Lori and Leni's old room. Inside was a large pile of wood, and hand crafted desks and bedframes. And on the other side, handmade clothes.

"Well, I see you found my factory Linky!" Leni exclaimed as she came in, with a few pieces of clothes around her arm.

"Wow sis. You've got a thriving business here." Lincoln remarked.

"Yeah, I guess I do. But, I would actually like to expand to guys clothes! Could you help me with that Linky?" Leni asked just as energetic as ever.

"Oh!' Lincoln was taken aback again. He still had to tell them that this wasn't permanent. 'Sure!" Lincoln lied as he kept walking down the hall towards his old room.

'Great. Another issue to deal with.' Lincoln thought as he opened the door to his room. He looked around shocked that nothing had changed. Well, except the door knob didn't fall onto the ground, and had to be reattached.

"I thought if you came back you'd want to have a door that didn't break on you, so I fixed the handle up for you." Lana explained before Lincoln could take a step inside.

"Well, thanks." Lincoln responded.

"Hey, in a little bit, you want me to show you all the new tricks I taught the animals?" Lana asked, rubbing her arm with one hand nervous. Lincoln didn't even have the time to respond, before another, slightly higher voice interrupted.

"You won't show him anything until I show him all my new pageant poses!" Lola yelled before Lana turned around and began a verbal sparring match with her twin. Lincoln audibly sighed, he already had a plate full of commitments. And he hadn't even met half of his siblings.

Lincoln sat down on his bed, and let out a light chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Lucy asked coming out of nowhere, like she used too. Though Lincoln didn't jump, he had seen worse.

"Nothing. Just some old joke." Lincoln responded as he saw Luan rush into the room, with a basket of clean clothes.

"What joke?" Luan asked excitedly.

"Just some crappy guy joke. You wouldn't like it." Lincoln answered.

"Ok, if you say so. Hey! I gotta tell you some of my new material!" Luan added as she leaned up against the doorway.

"Also, I need a few rhymes for my poems." Lucy chimed as she went over to her sister.

"Sorry, you'll have to take a number." Lincoln responded dryly as he smirked. Luan rolled her eyes, and left the room with Lucy. Lincoln scratched his head. He waltzed down the hall, opening the door to Luna's room hearing her talk on the phone.

"Speak of the devil Sam. I'll call you later babe. Bye!" Luna ended cheerfully as she stood up and approached her brother.

"Man, you missed a lot didn't you." Luna remarked as Lincoln chuckled.

"Yeah. I really did didn't I?" Lincoln responded as Luna dashed over to her desk.

"I've got tons of songs for you to listen too!" Luna cheerfully exclaimed as she waved around pounds of sheet music. She had dropped the English accent for the most part. Old habits died hard.

"Can't wait to hear them." Lincoln lied as he pat his sister on the back.

"Gimme a few days and I'll get my mates and girlfriend to gimme a hand with the songs!" Luna added. As she went back to work tampering with her guitar.

He left and walked through the halls again, stopping at Lisa and Lily's room. Lisa's wall had even more diplomas, and Lily's wall had a large number of things. Animals, music, a bit of fashion, and even some comic books. There were stickers on the wall above the image saying Lily's drawing wall. Lincoln smirked. Someone was bound to be a visual artist.

"Greetings Lincoln." Lisa acknowledged as she poured a few chemicals together. "I'm working on a serum to help Lily remember somethings about you. Lily just looked at Lincoln staring at him silent.

"Well, I was just checking in on you. I'll see you round." Lincoln awkwardly responded, as he began to leave the room. Lisa dropped the bottle. And it shattered, burning a hole in the floor.

"You plan to leave again don't you?" Lisa asked with a few tears in her eyes, as Lincoln looked down.

 **Oh boy. Things are getting a bit heated now. Also, I'm gonna try to get this next chapter out by the end of the month.**

 ** **Either way, I hoped you enjoyed! Feel free to review favorite or follow if you want. Stay tuned!****


	4. Chapter 4

**Yeah. August. Opps. I screwed up. But, it's here, and I feel it's a bit better than if I had just thrown it out on August 31st as planned. Plus, School started up again, and my Creative Writing class took up all creative juices in November. If you have not already, look into NaNoWriMo, It's pretty challenging but a lot of fun. But nonetheless, on with the show!**

Lincoln took a deep breath.

"Yeah. I am." Lincoln answered. He wasn't facing Lisa when he said it. Lily frowned, as she Lisa start to weep a little bit.

"You Jerk! You don't get to treat them like this! They said they were sorry!" Lily yelled. Lincoln frowned.

"Sorry doesn't fix everything Lily." Lincoln chided as he walked down the stairs, right past his siblings, and into the kitchen where his parents were waiting with Lynn's medical bills on the counter.

"Alright. So, with the help from Pop - Pop, the help from Lynn's assailants, and our emergency fund, we have 12,000 dollars. We're still 3 thousand short. So, Lincoln how much are you willing to put into the pot?" Lynn Sr. asked.

"I'll put in the 3,000." Lincoln quickly answered.

"Wait. What I want to know, is how did you even get 3,000 dollars? You don't have a high school degree, so I doubt you went to college." Rita questioned as Lincoln began to reach for his wallet.

"I was working. Various jobs, multiple at a time with a handful of well placed stocks I shared with a few coworkers." Lincoln calmly explained.

"Wait, you placed stocks?" Lynn Sr. questioned.

"Well, I assisted. The stock was about 4 or 5 thousand dollars initially, and it was for some Virtual Reality company, then we sold it when they were informed about some lawsuit. Then we put stock into another tech company and we hit a huge payoff." Lincoln continued.

"Hold on. How'd you even sell the stock if you had a lawsuit?" Lynn Sr. questioned.

"Well, somehow the company was able to hold the lawsuit off, but just to be safe, we sold our Then, we put some cash into Pear's stock. And given it's the best up and coming phone brand, we've made a hefty sum." Lincoln continued to explain.

"Wow, I didn't know you had such a mind for stocks Lincoln." Rita remarked, as Lincoln set the money down on the table.

"And, that is that. We're squared out." Lincoln spat as he stood up.

"Wait, what? You're already going?" Rita questioned half confused and half disappointed but completely hurt.

"Yep. I told Dad that I was leaving as soon as this was squared. And that time has come." Lincoln explained with an angry inflection in his voice. Rita was stunned and Lynn just sat there silently.

'Damn. Here I thought that him coming here would get him to stay here.' Lynn thought, numb to his outside situation.

"Lincoln please. We didn't mean to take it so seriously. We're sorry. We screwed up. Can you please forgive us?" Rita pleaded.

"To a certain extent I have forgiven you. But I don't think I want to be a part of this family." Lincoln bluntly stated.

"Fine. But since you're not going to be a part of this family, would you at least stay here tonight? Please?" Rita continued to plead. Lincoln stopped in the doorway. Everyone did seem really sorry. But did that mean he could forgive them? Lincoln gritted his teeth. His head was starting to hurt. But one night couldn't hurt.

"Fine. One night. After that, I'm leaving. And you will not change my mind again." Lincoln stated as he literally stamped his foot on the ground. They both sighed and smiled as Rita stood up.

"I'm gonna go and grab some new sheets for you to use tonight." Rita responded with a bounce as she trotted off to the laundry room seeking out some sheets. Lincoln glared over at Lynn. Sr. as he still smiled. Lincoln heard a floorboard creak and he whirled around, as he heard a flurry of footsteps rise up the stairs, giggling all the way. Lily had become the new spy for the siblings.

"Great. And here I was hoping that I was gonna have a peaceful final night here." Lincoln moaned as Lynn still smiled.


End file.
